Ethiopia: signalling a new confidence

Even as Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country, is battling several pressing challenges including recovery from the impact of Covid-19, climate change, prolonged regional conflicts, the Russia-Ukraine war, and reduced agency funding that is leading to high food insecurity in the Horn of Africa region and large scale displacement - the country is looking at new ways to refocus from the current crises and forge a path towards economic stability.

Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General said, "Ethiopia’s aviation industry is set to triple by 2040, with an average 6% growth in passenger traffic over the next 17 years. Ethiopia has the opportunity to take the lead, and in doing so, construct an aviation future that is as sustainable as it is successful.”

“The busiest trade lanes into Ethiopia include China, India, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. The largest segments of this import traffic are manufacturing (around 65%), petroleum products, mining equipment, and machinery (around 14%), and agricultural products (about 13%). Exports from Ethiopia are busy into the EU, North America, the Middle East, and the rest of Africa.” - Joe Lawrence, President of ASI.

“Over the past 10 years, the perishable sector has been the driving force behind Ethiopian exports, and the trade lanes are managed locally by Ethiopian Airlines. For perishables, the trade lanes are mostly exports to Europe. In addition, volumes are made up of products connected to clothing, e-commerce, and pharma industries. Trades lanes to the U.S. see sizable volumes for clothing, while import trade lanes remain connected with Asia.” - Peter Penseel, COO, Airfreight for CEVA Logistics.

One of Ethiopia’s strengths is the country’s largest airline - Ethiopian Airlines (ET), whose earnings jumped 20% to $6.1 bln in the 2022/2023 fiscal year, despite the impact of the Russian-Ukraine war and the increase in fuel prices. As per official figures, the carrier transported 13.7 million passengers and 723,000 tonnes of cargo in the fiscal year.

“Our vision is to be among the top cargo airlines in the world in terms of FTK by providing safe, market-driven, and customer-focused air cargo, courier, and mail transport services by 2035,” Abel Alemu, Ethiopian Cargo & Logistics Services.

“We are sending out a few things and bringing in so many imports, making us highly dependent on perishable traffic as we do not have other exports and finished goods to send.” - Dawit Woubishet, WoubGet Holdings

The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreements are expected to have a transformative effect on the aviation and logistics landscape of Ethiopia. As per an ITA report, the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) aims to boost exports and trade through a $1 billion investment in agro-processing industrial parks to make Ethiopia a top manufacturing hub on the continent.

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